Karastan Woos Contemporary Consumer

Karastan introduced a new rug collection, and new designs to others, as part of the Metro Rug Alliance Market Week held here recently. Many of the new offerings are designed to broaden the traditional rug maker's scope – without abandoning its classic positioning.

“We're now designing for the sunroom, the bedroom, and the second home – rooms we really weren't designing for, so it opens a whole new consumer pool,” said Elizabeth Miller, senior vp, design.

Its newest machine-woven rug collection, Shapura, springboards off traditional Peshawar weaves, but employs color that is simpler and more airy. Key colors across the collection include brick, chalky blue, bottle green, and saffron yellow. Three patterns are being offered. In addition to standard area rug sizes, Karastan can hand-seam rugs together to create over-sized pieces.

“We think it will attract a customer that hasn't found Karastan yet,” Miller said.

Similarly, new additions to Karastan's Artworks collection focus on “luxury” neutrals such as robin's egg blue and shades of brown. The idea, Miller said, is to create pieces that consumers can pair with more contemporary furniture.

Such is also the case with Empress Kirman Black, a new addition to the Original Karastan series. The pattern – a best-seller for 17 years – has been re-colored to make it more dramatic, with an emphasis on black that allows the pattern “to go in a more contemporary direction.”